Hiring Humans: Craig Fisher on Building Connection at Scale and Why Automation Can’t Replace Intuition

In this episode of The Recruiting Book Club, host Carmen Hudson sits down with longtime friend and fellow industry builder Craig Fisher - author of Hiring Humans, founder of TalentNet Media, and a seasoned consultant at the intersection of recruiting, marketing, and employer branding. From his early days in pharma sales to leading digital transformation projects for Toyota and Allegis, Craig’s career arc is anything but ordinary. Together, they unpack how Craig went from selling hospital equipment to reshaping how Fortune 50s think about talent, tech, and candidate experience. It’s a fast-paced conversation that covers Craig’s “empathy-first” approach to recruiting, the evolution of job descriptions in the AI era, and why online presence is now a non-negotiable for talent professionals. Key themes discussed include: From Field Rep to Founder: Craig shares the inflection points that led him into recruiting - and how a side hustle with Twitter turned into a national conference series and consulting practice. Job Descriptions, Rewritten: With 13,000 job posts under his belt, Craig explains how bad metadata and outdated templates tank performance - and what real “candidate-first” copy looks like. Empathy Maps and Marketing Mindsets: Drawing from IBM’s Future of Work sessions, Craig walks through his recruiting empathy map and the power of persona-based sourcing strategies. Tech Doesn’t Replace the Human: Craig champions the tools, but reminds us why automation doesn’t equal connection - and why candidate ghosting is still a human problem, not a software glitch. Online Presence = Professional Currency: For recruiters struggling with visibility, Craig offers a pragmatic framework for showing up online - without oversharing or burning bridges. The Metrics That Matter: From time-to-fill to revenue impact, Craig breaks down how recruiters can align with business goals and finally get a seat at the table - with numbers to back it up. This episode is for anyone wondering how to blend heart and hard data, and what it means to be truly human in a profession increasingly driven by code, content, and compliance. Craig reminds us that recruiting isn’t broken - it’s just growing up.   Follow Carmen Hudson on LinkedIn or visit www.carmenhudson.com Connect with Craig Fisher on LinkedIn Get your copy of Hiring Humans by Craig Fisher - a candid, strategic guide for navigating the evolving world of recruiting with empathy, precision, and tech-savvy execution. From crafting better candidate experiences to optimizing your brand in a digital-first landscape, this book arms TA leaders with the tools to hire smarter - without losing the human touch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices